Becoming Wise

 

For the coming Marriage Supper of the Lamb, the Lord's bride is expected to prepare herself, to make herself ready, for His soon appearing (Rev. 19:7). Jesus describes some of this preparation in Mt. 25:1-13. In this parable of the ten virgins who all awaited the Bridegroom, Jesus referred to five as "wise", and five as "foolish". The difference between the two groups is that, although both groups slept and slumbered, the first group who were wise, had enough oil with them to keep their lamps lighted as they went out to meet the Bridegroom when He came. The second, or foolish, group did not, and their lamps went out. Consequently, because they had not been properly prepared, they missed the coming of the Bridegroom, and the entrance into the marriage feast. Therefore, an important part in becoming prepared for the marriage to the Lamb, is to be wise, to be "lighted" with lamps and abundant oil.

As our nation is torn apart with racial hatred, violence, and ungodly acts, which are capturing headlines daily, and as the signs of the end of the age are becoming apparent, are we, the Church, lighting our spiritual lamps, shining with the wisdom of God? It doesn't appear to be the case. The Church is strangely silent, not bringing forth that light of wisdom. Wisdom can shine a warning light that leads others to salvation. The Church, without its lighted lamps, cannot be distinguished from the surrounding spiritual darkness.

The prophet Daniel, recounting the visions God showed him of end time turmoil and tribulation that comes upon the whole earth, also prophesies the role of the shining Wise during this time. He describes a terrible fourth beast of iron, who rules over this age:

"After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was divers ("shena"- altered, changed, transformed) from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns... strong as iron:

forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise."   Dan. 7:7, 2:40

This terrible, altered fourth beast has mingled with the seed of men (Dan. 2:41-43), and as a result, the same manner in which this beast is altered or diverse, men have become altered in spiritual character, and twisted in understanding by their association with it (Rom. 1:21-32). In its diverse state, the beast seeks to alter all around it. It even seeks to change times (set time, season, appointed time, stated time, fixed time) and laws (decrees of kings, laws of God, religion, system of religion, plan, purpose, commandment, statute) (Dan. 7:25). Like never before, we are seeing this come to pass in our time. Even as this fourth beast of Daniel is described as speaking great words against the Most High, we are seeing God purposefully removed from every section of society in our nation. Many men no longer revere God, or His Word.

Daniel said that the whole earth would be under the destructive power of this beast:

"...The fourth beast ...shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces."  Dan. 7:23

However, its greatest fury is reserved for the saints of God:

"...made war with the saints, and prevailed against them...and shall wear out the saints of the Most High..."  Dan. 7:21, 25 (excerpts)

Even as the saints are worn out by this beast, and it seems that the beast is prevailing against them, the saints, the Wise, begin to shine:

"Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand...And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever...but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many..." 

                                                                                       Dan. 12:10, 3, 11:32-33)

Though the toll is heavy, as the Wise shine through this trying time, even leading many others into righteousness, the Kingdom of God rises up and overcomes the beast that sought to destroy the saints and the whole earth:

"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever...the Ancient of Days came and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom...the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever...the judgment shall sit, and they (the saints) shall take away his (the beast's) dominion, to consume, and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him."   Dan.2:44, 7:22, 18, 26-27

Whether because we are seeing how all of these things which Daniel 

prophesied are now manifesting throughout the earth, or because we understand that the return of our Lord and Bridegroom is upon us, in both cases, the wise are called upon to prepare themselves with oil, to wake up, to light their lamps and shine with the wisdom and salvation of the kingdom of God in the earth. It is time for complaisance, slumber, and compromise and collaboration with the spirit of this world to end.

"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven saying, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever."                                          Rev. 11:15

 

 

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Purim- Now is the Appointed Time

Esther exposes Haman before the King

 

Because of her great beauty, Esther was chosen to become the new queen of King Ahasuerus. He was the king of Persia and Media. His kingdom stretched from India to Ethiopia (Esther 1:1). Esther entered the palace, and lived a pampered, luxurious life. Esther, whose real name was Hadassah, hid her Jewish identity by posing as a Gentile on the advice of her uncle, Mordecai.
 

Persian "pur" or lot

One of the king's most honored counsellors, Haman, an ambitious and evil man, had persuaded the king to sign a command that all of the Jews in the kingdom should be destroyed, and the spoil taken into the king's treasury. Haman cast lots (dice) called pur, to determine the date when the Jews were to be destroyed (Est. 3:7). The root word pur, means to break, crush, bring to naught, to utterly take. The king even gave his ring of authority to Haman to accomplish this terrible deed (Est. 3:9-12). Although Haman cast lots to find the best date for the Jews' destruction, the lots were really forecasting the date of his own destruction, as we shall see.

Mordecai came to Esther, and asked her to intercede with the king to stop Haman's plans. She was reluctant and afraid, because anyone who approached the king, without being summoned by him first, was subject to death. Mordecai convinced her by saying:

"...who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"  Est. 4:14

Esther told Mordecai that he should have all of the Jews pray and fast before God for three days, and on the third day, Esther entered the king's inner court, where he was enthroned. 

The next problem for Esther was how she might expose Haman, the king's closest advisor, and change the king's mind. However, in order to expose Haman, she would have to expose herself, and reveal her own Jewish identity. The dangerous situation was a great risk for Esther, but the people of God had fasted and prayed. Haman was successfully exposed by Esther, and he was ordered to be killed by the king. Esther rose in great authority in her husband's kingdom:

"Then Esther the queen....wrote with all authority, to confirm....these days of Purim in their times appointed,...and the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book."   Est. 9:29-32
Not only was Esther's authority established in her husband's kingdom, but also the authority and favor of all of God's people:
"For Mordecai the Jew was next unto King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews,...seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed."  Est. 10:3
During this time of Purim, we are reminded that God's people, like Esther, are set in specific places, even king's palaces, for appointed times and purposes.
The prophet Daniel received revelations from the LORD regarding appointed times, and the vital role played by God's believing people. As it was with Esther, these appointed times are dangerous, and risky, but this is exactly when the people of God are called to impact these times with the power of the Kingdom of God. It is interesting to note that Daniel's king, Darius, was the son of Esther's husband, Ahasuerus.
The point of impact into the perilous times spoken of by Daniel, began with his fasting and repentance on behalf of himself, and all of God's people:
"And I set my face unto the Lord (Messiah: Ps. 110:1, Mt. 22:42-46)) God, to seek...and I prayed unto the LORD (YHWH, Jehovah) my God, and made my confession, and said,...We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments,...yet made we not our prayer before the LORD God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth....O Lord, hear; O Lord forgive; O Lord, hearken and do...for thy city, and thy people are called by thy name."  Dan. 9:3-5, 13, 19
Prayer and repentance should also be our beginning point in impacting our appointed times. Daniel's heartfelt prayer of repentance was answered immediately with the appearance of the angel, Gabriel, who explained and revealed to Daniel the awesome purpose God would fulfill through His people in the appointed time of the perilous last days. God wants His people to know and understand the appointed times, and the role we are to play in them.
As revealed by the angel to Daniel, the appointed time dealt with the last week of Jeremiah's seventy weeks of years. This is the time in which we are now living. According to Daniel, desolations and war, and "troublous times" will come to God's people, and to the city of God (Dan. 9:25-27).
However, in the midst of this time of intense spiritual and natural warfare against the saints, "the time came that the saints possessed (root- to lay up in store, to heap up, to be strong) the kingdom" (Dan. 7:22). Even though a "king" will arise speaking against the Most High, seeking even to change the appointed times, and wearing out the saints (v. 25), the saints of this time shall "take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it unto the end" (v. 26):
"And the kingdom, and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him. Hitherto is the end of the matter...but I kept the matter in my heart."  Dan. 7:27-28
During this appointed time of which Daniel prophesied, though wickedness seems to be prevailing, God's people will be a people of understanding, and will instruct many, and "the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits"  (Dan. 11:32, 33, 35).
The Book of Revelation also talks about an appointed time of great spiritual warfare that begins in the heavens, but soon impacts the earth. The enemy uses deception, persecution, and accusation against the brethren (Rev. 11:7-8, 12-13). However, this appointed time will also be the time of the overcoming of this evil enemy by the brethren in the power of Christ:
"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ"...and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."
                                                                                                Rev. 12:10-11
As we see the signs of the times around us during these days of Purim, we also know that we, the people of God, have been called for this appointed time of Daniel and Revelation. We, like Esther, have come into the kingdom for such a time as this. Let us begin our impact upon this appointed time as Daniel did, and as the Jews of Esther's Purim did, with fasting, and prayers of repentance on our own behalf, and on behalf of our nation, which is covered with iniquity and wickedness. Like Esther, we are Jews (Rom. 2:29) hidden amongst the Gentiles. We are the beautiful Bride of the King, called during this appointed time to accomplish, through the power of Christ, a great work of deliverance. AMEN.

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A House Divided

 

The condition of our nation, of our people, even of the church, is one of division. Division is a tool that Lucifer used to separate one-third of the angels from God's Kingdom, and to separate Adam and Eve from God, their Creator. Jesus spoke of the desolation that results from division, its effect seen from the largest kingdom down to a single house:

"Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand."          Mt. 12:25

God's House is a house without division, standing forever. The first mention of "house" in scripture reflects His view of a united house:

"And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation."     Gen. 7:1

The command to Noah, whom the LORD saw as righteous, was to not only himself but to all his house, undivided. 

COME OUT/ENTER IN/SHUT IN

As the commandment to Noah said, Noah was to come from, or out of, something and enter into the ark:

"And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God (Elohim) had commanded him: and the LORD (YHWH) shut him in."       Gen. 7:16

God commanded it, and YHWH, the "Hand (Yod) Pierced By The Nail (Vaw)", shut them in.

Even out of a condition of division, the LORD calls us to come out, enter in, and be shut in.

Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins who were divided: five were wise, having oil in their lamps, and five were foolish, being unprepared, having no oil. At midnight, signifying the end of an age, there was a cry made, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him,"

The five virgins who were prepared with oil in their lamps, "went in with him to the marriage and the door was shut."        Mt. 25:1-6, 10

This is the nature of the House of God. God is not just calling us to "come out" of something, but He is also calling us to "enter in" to His House. In Rev. 18:4, a voice from heaven commands God's people to "come out" of Mystery Babylon, so we will not partake of her sins, nor consequently receive her judgment plagues. These same people of God who were commanded to "come out" are now called "into" the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:8). Like Noah, they are seen by God as righteous, robed in their fine, clean, white linen. As you "come out", you "enter in" the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14-15), where your robes are washed clean by His blood. This is the place of the Father's House. Jesus, the Bridegroom, told us that He goes to His Father's House to prepare a place for us. This is the place we are being called to "enter in".

 

THE LAW OF THE HOUSE

 





God's House stands forever. It is not a House divided, and we cannot "enter in" to that House bringing those things that divide us from Him, or from each other. We cannot build our house of our own ways, and set it next to His House, and say we have "entered in". We must "come out" of that, leave it behind, put it away. We must repent of it:

"In their setting of their threshold by My thresholds, and their posts by My posts, and the wall between Me and them, they have even defiled My holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in Mine anger. Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from Me, and I will dwell in the midst of them forever."      Ez. 43:8-9

God commands the law of His House. He shows us the true House, and what is necessary to "enter into" it:

"Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them. This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house."     Ez. 43:10-12

It is the humble man, the contrite repentant spirit, that "comes out" of that old place, and desires to "enter in" to the House of God. God's House is a holy House, a sanctuary in the time of trouble, and resurrection revival to those humble souls. The proud and the haughty will be looking for places to hide, sanctuaries to cover them for fear of the LORD and for the glory of His majesty, but those useless sanctuaries will not be in God's House:

"And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"   Rev. 6:15-17

(Isa. 2:3, 10-11, Isa. 57:15, Ps. 27:4-5, Ps. 91:1, Rev. 7:14-15).

 



Jesus said, "If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."    Jn. 14:23

He also said, He "that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth", has opened a door that no man can shut. This open door is to the temple, the House of God. Those who overcome shall enter it, coming out of that divided house, the synagogue of Satan. He will be made a pillar of the Name, Ha Shem, in the Temple of God, and "he shall go no more out."  (Rev. 3:7-12).

Come out, and enter in.